Mike Phelan: Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to overtake Ryan Giggs

Former Manchester United man Mike Phelan has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to overtake Ryan Giggs as the club’s free-kick taker once he arrived.

The Portuguese star came to Old Trafford as a teenager but apparently already had his eyes set on overthrowing one of the club’s own legends.

Ronaldo is known worldwide for his breathtaking free-kicks, even just scoring one against former World Cup winners Spain in the current edition of the tournament.

Giggs had bags of technique himself but the Real Madrid man did eventually become United’s first choice free-kick taker nonetheless due to his insane ratio.

Phelan witnessed it all happening right in front of his eyes and once more offered fans more insight into just what happened behind closed doors.

According to the Express, Mike said to the Daily Mail: “When Cristiano Ronaldo first arrived at Manchester United in 2003, Ryan Giggs was on free-kicks.

“But Cristiano took on challenges like nobody else. He always wanted to try something. He wanted to be the guy who found out through trying. He did it every day after training with Giggs and Wayne Rooney.

“The first challenge was to be better than his team-mates. He rose to that. Once he mastered it, he liked people to be around him watching it and talking about it.”

Red Devils’ fans hoping to see their former player lift the World Cup just two years on from lifting the European Championship were left bitterly disappointed following Portugal’s loss to Uruguay.

The South-American nation will now come up against Paul Pogba’s France in the quarter finals of the competition and he’ll have a chance to prove once more just how talented he is.

Perhaps Ronaldo has one more World Cup left in him but currently at the age of 33, it may not quite be possible.